LeadburnWood

Dear Leadburn Supporter,

Apologies for a second email from us, but this one is also important.

This is an appeal from Friends of Leadburn Community Woodland (FLCW) committee to support our peat conservation efforts at Leadburn by signing a new petition to legislate for a UK peat sales ban. The petition can be found on the website at  actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk .

Friends of Leadburn Community Woodland have previously hosted our MSP Christine Grahame and the then Scottish Government’s Environment Secretary Màiri McAllan at Leadburn to discuss the environmentally damaging peat extraction issues around Leadburn that continue to remove huge tonnages of peat from several mosses within a few miles of Leadburn, in stark contrast to FLCW’s commitment to protect and enhance the deep peat on Leadburn Community Woodland. We also responded to the SG’s consultation on a peat sale ban, and featured on a Borders Television item that highlighted the differences (so very visible from their drone footage) between FLCW’s peat conservation work compared to the huge desecration scars of bare peat obvious on the peat extraction areas only a mile or two from the woodland. Despite Màiri’s understanding of the issues and her wish to deter peat sales to the public, we still seem to be waiting for legislation to come into affect (see timeline here Legislation timeline – Peat Free Partnership), especially across the UK as a whole (see SG letter from Jim Fairlie as recently as 20^th January 2026 Horticultural peat: letter to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – gov.scot).

It would therefore be great if you could help us to continue the pressure on the government to get the ban done by signing the petition recently initiated by the Royal Horticultural Society and Peat-free Partnership to ban entirely the extraction and sale of peat for horticultural use.  The petition can be found at actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk, and you can also write to your MP too if you’ve time. You could quote the peat conservation going on at Leadburn Community Woodland in stark contrast to the extraction at Springfield Moss (between Leadburn and Penicuik), Whim and Auchencorth, quite literally on our local MPs backyard! This petition is necessary because parliamentary time for the legislation always seems to disappear, despite promises and cross-party support to get it done.

Most UK nations agree that there should be a ban on peat use.  Northern Ireland has a clear date for this: by 2030.  Wales and Scotland support phasing out peat sales. But they won’t act alone because of the UK Internal Market Act which means if one nation halted the local production and sale of peat it could still enter the market from another (all quoted from the February edition of the RHS publication ’The Garden’).

The petition deadline is 28th February, so please spare a minute to sign.

Many thanks,

Friends of Leadburn Community Woodland committee